Meadows Island
by purple.tank
Summary: Leah Dawson has been through many ups and downs in her short 15 years of life. After the death of her parents, six years ago, she was sent to live with her Aunt Carol. As if that wasn't bad enough, her Aunt had just accepted a job offer in Japan, forcing Leah to move to Meadows Island with her Uncle Tom and two cousins Steve and Chris. Follow Leah on this new chapter in her life.
1. Chapter 1

Cold, cloudy, wet, rainy, small... It was as if whoever wrote this description of the Island was trying to discourage any outsiders from wanting to visit. Unfortunately, I wasn't just visiting the Island. I was being forced to start a new life there.

"Leah, get off that computer and help me pack up your closet, will you?" My Aunt Carol called in a frustrated tone from my bedroom closet.

I let out a loud sigh and closed my laptop shut before lazily sliding off of my bed. I was trying to google information about Meadows Island, the place that I'd be moving to. Sadly, there really wasn't much information about it on the internet.

"Go get me another box from downstairs." She instructed as I watched her tape up a box she had just packed with some of my clothes.

After the death of my parents, 6 years ago, I'd been sent to live with my mother's sister, Carol. My Aunt Carol was a single, 42 year old workaholic with no children.

After accepting a job offer in Tokyo, Japan, she decided she was shipping me off to live with my father's brother, Uncle Ryan.

"Is your room packed up yet?" My aunt asked as I handed her the box she had instructed me to bring her.

"Almost." I ran a hand through my wavy blonde hair.

She looked up at me with tired dark blue eyes, small wrinkles surrounding them. My Aunt was a short, slim figured woman with short blonde hair. She would touch up her roots just about every month or so, to mask her graying hairs.

"Go ahead and finish up your room. I'll take care of the rest of this." she pointed at the remaining objects in my closet. I nodded my head and made my way back to my bedroom.

As I packed the rest of my belongings into the moving boxes, I couldn't help but think about all of the friends that I'd be leaving behind. I would have to start from scratch again. New school, new teachers, new friends- I wasn't at all happy about this move, but still, I was willing to keep an optimistic outlook on this new chapter in my life.


	2. Chapter 2

I stared out through the passenger side window of my Uncle's truck as he drove us through Meadows Island. I couldn't help but notice how oddly perfect all of the houses on the island looked. They were all enormous homes with perfect lawns. It kind of gave off a strange, uptight vibe that I didn't find welcoming in the slightest sense.

"You eat already?" My Uncle asked, breaking the eerie silence that surrounded the cab of his truck. His voice sounded low and husky. I felt his dark green eyes look at me for a brief second before he returned them back to the road.

I shrugged my shoulders sluggishly. "I'm not hungry." I mumbled.

I hadn't seen my Uncle since my mother and father's funeral, six years ago. He'd been 34 at the time. He hadn't seemed to age much from when I'd last seen him. He still looked to be the same tall, athletic, tan skinned man I remembered him to be. The only difference was that he had grown a beard out. It suited him well.

"You start school tomorrow." He spoke after breathing out a deep sigh. "You'll need to unpack your belongings tonight and get to bed at a decent time. Chris will be dropping you off at school in the morning."

"Ok." I breathed out, as I continued staring out through the window.

Silence, once again, consumed the confines of his truck.

I sat there, now staring at the thousands of trees that surrounded us as we drove to the next city over. I thought about how difficult it felt to get used to the idea that I would now be living with my Uncle and my cousins.

My Uncle Tom had two sons, Chris and Steve. Chris was 21 and Steve had just turned 23. They both lived at home with my Uncle. Their mother, my Aunt Grace, had passed away at a very young age, after giving birth to my cousin Chris. My Uncle never remarried after that.

Finally, after 15 minutes of complete silence, we arrived at my Uncle's house.

He pulled into the empty driveway and parked his truck. I sat in his truck for a few moments, examining the enormous house that I'd be forced to call home for the next few years. The exterior was covered in a combination of brick and stone. The front lawn was as flawlessly green as the other lawns in the neighborhood.

I let out a deep sigh before turning to open the passenger side door of the truck.

As I stepped out of the truck, I felt the brisk wind hit my cheeks. I drew in a deep breath and inhaled the fresh pine scent of the island.

I could hear my Uncle grunting as he grabbed my heavy luggage bags. I followed closely behind him as he made his way up to the front door of the house.

"You can hang your coat there." He offered, pointing at the coat rack that stood at the entrance of the house.

I slid my coat off and hung it on the rack.

I had forgotten just how wealthy my Uncle Tom was. He owned a well known construction company here on the island.

He gave me a quick tour of the house before dropping my bags off in my new room.

"You can go unpack your things if you'd like." He pulled his phone out from his back pocket and glanced at the time. "Just be down here by 7 for dinner." I nodded my head 'Ok' before making my way to my new bedroom.

From what I remembered, my Uncle had never been a man of many words. The very few times that he did come visit, he'd probably spoken to me a total of 5 times. I remember being scared to talk to him. He always had an angry look on his face. But sooner or later I learned that that was just his personality. He was a serious, reserved man, which I honestly didn't mind.

That night we ended up having Lasagna for dinner. It was a pretty uneventful dinner, minus the small reunion with my cousins. I felt out a little out of place, but knew that the feeling would pass soon enough..


	3. Chapter 3

Today was my first day of school at Meadows High School. I could feel the nerves creeping up inside me as I walked down the school halls in search of the Student Counseling Center.

Finally, after a good 7 minutes of walking aimlessly down the giant halls, I came across a small brick building with big, block letters on it that read 'STUDENT COUNSELING CENTER'. I stared at the door for a brief second before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

"Good morning!" A short, thin blonde girl standing at the front desk, greeted cheerfully as I walked through the door.

"Morning." I smiled. "I'm here to pick up my class schedule."

The girl smiled at me. "Oh, you must be Leah Dawson." She said, turning to grab a sheet off of the organized desk behind her.

"That's me." I nodded my head.

"I'm Allie Gates, a sophomore here." she smiled, reaching out to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled shaking her hand.

"I'm supposed to give you a tour of the school before class starts." She said, turning to grab her coat off the coat rack next to her.

"Oh, thanks." I let out a small smile. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to walk down the school halls alone, looking lost again. I waited for her to grab her stuff before we stepped outside.

As soon as we stepped outside, I felt a strong gust of wind hit my face. I pulled at my coat tightly and shivered.

Allie looked at me, a light laugh escaping her lips. "You'll get used to the cold." She said, completely unfazed by the cold temperature outside.

I nodded my head, releasing the tight grip on my coat as we started walking down the school halls. "I sure hope so."

"Alrighty," She stopped in front of a door labeled RM 120. "This is where your first class is." She signaled at the door with her right hand. "All of the English classes are along this building" she explained, pointing at the rest of the classrooms along the building we stood in front of. I nodded my head 'ok'.

About a good fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves at the Student Counseling Center once again. I sighed a sigh of relief as we entered the warm building. Never had I been introduced to this type of cold before.

"So, that was it." She shrugged off her coat as she walked back behind the front desk.

"Pretty small compared to my old high school." I commented. Just then the first period bell rang, signaling everyone to get to class.

"Yeah, not too big of a fuss." She spoke as she grabbed a small stack of white slips and began writing on the top one. "You can wait here until the halls clear up. I'll write up a late slip for you." She smiled, continuing to write.

"Actually, I'd rather head to class right now instead of showing up late and making a scene. It's bad enough that I'm the new girl.. don't want to draw too much attention to myself." I said, a slight grimace showing on my face.

"Alright, girl!" Allie shrugged her shoulders lightly, letting out a small smile.

"Thank you for everything." I smiled. She nodded her head and wished me good luck on my first day.

It was finally nearing the end of the school day. My first five classes, English, Geometry, Spanish, Dance, and Health had flown by. I ended up making a couple of new friends who invited me to sit with them at lunch. They spent the entire lunch break catching me up on the latest school drama, which honestly, I could care less about. But- I wasn't going to let them know that, of course. I just really wanted to fit in."

Alas, I was finally, headed to my sixth period class, I would get to be the Nurses aide for all of the next hour.

I quickly arrived at the old wooden trailer where the school Nurse worked. Apparently her old office was currently under construction.

"Hello." I greeted Mrs. May, the school nurse, as I entered her office. She was a small, old, white lady with thin graying hair.

"Oh, good afternoon, sweetie!" She greeted me from behind her desk. She was typing something into her computer.

"You must be Leah." She smiled, reaching out to shake my hand. I nodded my head and shook her hand.

She gave me a quick run down of what a typical day as the nurses aide was usually like before mentioning that she was just waiting on her other aide to show up so that we could get started on filing some paperwork for her.

I stood there waiting for about half a minute before the most gorgeous boy I'd ever laid eyes on rushed into the office. He stood at about 6 ft tall, had tanned skin, and gorgeous dark green eyes. His black hair was styled in a long-ish, combover hairstyle.

I barely heard the bell ring as he walked in. I tried my hardest not to stare at him.

"Glad to see you could make it on time today, Sam." Mrs. May spoke as 'Sam' pulled his black hoodie off over his head, revealing a gray t-shirt that hugged his muscular arms in just the right way. He sounded a bit out of breath as he responded.

"Only for you Mrs. May." He gave her a wink and a grin that showed his flawless, bright white teeth.

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes at him. "Sam, this is Leah, our new student aide." Mrs. May signaled a hand towards me, causing Sam to turn around and look at me.

I could feel my cheeks flush a bright red color as he looked at me, his perfect grin playing on his lips. He stuck his hand out for me to shake. I felt the calloused skin on his palm as I shook his hand.

"Hi." I spoke shyly as he released his grip from our handshake.

After our little introduction, Mrs. May sent us both to the back room behind her office so that we could file the paperwork she'd mentioned earlier.

"So, you're the new girl." Sam spoke as he opened the filing cabinet next to him. "Chris and Steve's cousin, right?" He asked.

"Um, y-yeah." I mentally grimaced at the sound of my slight stutter. "How do you know them?" I asked curiously.

"Small town.." he shrugged his shoulders, placing a sheet of paper in the filing cabinet.

"Right.." I pursed my lips together. "So, are you a sophomore, too?" I asked, nervously flipping through a stack of paperwork that sat on the desk in front of me. I wasn't the best at talking to people I didn't know, especially hot guys..

"I'm actually a Junior." He answered.

We made some more small talk while we worked before Mrs. May called Sam over to work on something else for her.

Sixth period ended up flying by as well. I had been hoping that Sam would get to come back and continue working with me, but he didn't. In fact, he'd left about 5 minutes early to change over for football practice.

The bell, signaling freedom from these school halls, had finally rang. Chris was already waiting outside of the school to pick me up by the time I'd called him.

All in all, this place didn't seem too bad. I still wouldn't say that I was happy about moving here, but I could now say that I didn't completely hate the fact that I did.


	4. Chapter 4

*Drip* I shivered at the touch of the cold rainwater rolling down my left cheek. I raised my chin up to the sky and noticed the huge gray clouds rolling in just above my head.

"Perfect.." I sighed. I quickly bent down to pick up the water bottle I had placed on the ground just minutes before the rainy skies interrupted my stretching, and headed back inside my Uncle's house.

My plan had been to go on a light jog before school this morning. I was in desperate need of a therapeutic jog. Something that would help me clear my head a little bit.

"Back so fast?" Chris asked from the kitchen.

I stripped off my windbreaker and hung it on the coat rack before making my way into the kitchen.

"Didn't realize it was going to be a rainy morning." I sighed.

Chris chuckled. "Can't remember the last dry morning we had around here. Thought you'd be used to it by now."

"Guess I should be…" I shrugged, pulling out a bag of bagels from the refrigerator and popping two halves into the toaster.

I'd been living on the Island for a little over four months now. I had become really good friends with Allie, from the counseling center, and Khloe, a girl from my Spanish class. Fortunately, my small crush on Sam Harding had disappeared. It turned out that every other girl at my school was interested in him, but he never seemed to pay attention to any of them due to him dating some College Freshman. Other than that, I had been doing great at school, maintaining straight A's and joining the girl's soccer team with both Allie and Khloe. Summer Vacation was about to kick off in about a week. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be any sunny skies around these parts, but that was ok. I was just looking forward to the nice break from homework.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Chris asked, a sympathetic look showing on his face.

My parent's death anniversary had been yesterday and I'd spent the entire day sulking in my bedroom.

"Better.." I faked a half smile.

Chris stared at me for a second and returned a half smile before nodding his head and continuing to eat his oatmeal.

Just then Steve strolled into the kitchen.

"Morning, Kid!" He greeted cheerfully, roughing up my hair as he walked past me.

"Why do you always do that?" I complained, taking my hair out of the once neat ponytail I had it in and redoing it.

"Because I enjoy annoying you." He replied nonchalantly with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes at him, grabbing my toasted Bagel halves and Orange Juice I had poured into a glass, and sat at the table across from Chris.

"You taking her to school today?" Steve asked Chris, with a mouth full of trail mix.

"I thought you were?" Chris frowned. "I have some stuff that I need to take care of here in a bit." He said, looking at his watch.

I was in no mood to go to school today. It was only Monday and I wasn't feeling too confident about a History Quiz I had today.

"Well, I don't really HAVE to go to school today." I suggested.

"You're going." Chris said, not even taking a moment to think about my suggestion.

"Ugh!" I growled.

"Can you be ready in like 35 minutes?" Steve asked looking over at me. "I ALSO have some stuff to take care of." He looked over at Chis this time.

Chris chuckled. "It's your turn anyway."

"Sure." I mumbled, taking one last bite from my bagel before setting it down on a plate and making my way upstairs to shower./p

I came back downstairs about forty minutes later.

"You ready, Kid?" Steve asked impatiently.

"Yeah, sorry, had to blow dry my hair." I apologized.

"Here." Steve said handing me my bagel. He had wrapped it in saran wrap for me.

"Oh, thanks!" I took the bagel from him and walked over to the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the refrigerator before heading outside to meet him at his truck. He owned a black, four door, Chevy Silverado.

We arrived at my school about 15 minutes later. I thanked Steve for the ride before getting out of his truck and heading to the Library so that I could study for my History Quiz this afternoon. After all, it was only 6:45am and 1st period didn't' start until 7:30am.

I was pretty deep into my studying when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Leal's!" It was Khloe.

p"Shhh.." the librarian turned to look at us, holding a finger up to her lips./p

p"Sorry." Khloe whispered back before turning to look at me. "Guess who just got invited to Sam Harding's bonfire next Friday?" She whispered excitedly./p

"You got an invite?!" I gasped.

Khloe nodded her head in excitement. "But don't be jelly." She teased. "Sam handed me a flyer this morning after telling me that both you and Allie were also invited."

A huge grin appeared on my lips. "I thought it was going to be exclusive to Juniors and Seniors." I mentioned.

"That was the word on the street, but I guess your girl's just that cool.." she smirked.

I rolled my eyes at her and let out a light laugh.

"You tell Allie yet?" I asked, closing my history book. I was way too excited to study now.

"I was going to tell her during second period." She said.

"We'll have to go shopping!" I said excitedly.

"Shhhhhhhhh.." The librarian turned to look at us once again.

Khloe and I looked at each other, quiet giggles escaping our lips. We apologized to the librarian before heading out to grab a snack from the cafeteria.


End file.
